Field of the Invention
The disclosed and claimed concept relates to a circuit breaker installation and, more specifically, to a circuit breaker installation including a circuit breaker assembly having a primary contact assembly and a secondary contact assembly, and a frame assembly having a primary contact assembly and a secondary contact assembly wherein the secondary contact assemblies move between a connect, test, and disconnect configuration.
Background Information
A circuit breaker installation includes a frame assembly, or housing assembly, that defines an enclosed space. The frame assembly also includes a contact assembly with a primary contact assembly and a secondary contact assembly. The frame assembly primary contact assembly is in electrical communication with a line and a load, as is known. A circuit breaker installation also includes a circuit breaker assembly which also has a contact assembly with a primary contact assembly and a secondary contact assembly. In use, the circuit breaker assembly is disposed in the frame assembly enclosed space with the circuit breaker assembly primary contact assembly in electrical communication with the frame assembly primary contact assembly. The circuit breaker assembly, in an exemplary embodiment, is moved from the frame assembly enclosed space; in this configuration, the circuit breaker assembly primary contact assembly is not in electrical communication with the frame assembly primary contact assembly.
The circuit breaker installation also includes additional assemblies such as, but not limited to, testing and monitoring devices. Testing and monitoring devices include, but are not limited to, input and output devices, sensors and actuators. The input and output devices are located outside the frame assembly and, in an exemplary embodiment, are electronically coupled to other, remote input and output devices. The sensors and actuators, as well as other devices, are located inside the frame assembly as well as inside the circuit breaker assembly. The input and output devices are coupled to, and in electronic communication with, the sensors and actuators via the frame assembly secondary contact assembly and the circuit breaker secondary contact assembly. That is, the circuit breaker secondary contact assembly is in electromechanical communication between control signals, various sensors, actuators and other devices within the frame assembly and the circuit breaker assembly. The frame assembly secondary contact assembly is a system to allow the input and output devices to communicate. When the frame assembly secondary contact assembly and the circuit breaker secondary contact assembly are coupled this allows for there to be electromechanical communication. Input is provided to the actuators and data from the sensors is provided to the output devices.
The additional control and monitoring devices are, in an exemplary embodiment, used when the circuit breaker assembly is not in service. Thus, the frame assembly secondary contact assembly and the circuit breaker secondary contact assembly are structured to be in contact with each other even after the circuit breaker assembly primary contact assembly and the frame assembly primary contact assembly are separated. That is, the frame assembly primary contact assembly is disposed at the rear of the frame assembly enclosed space. The circuit breaker assembly primary contact assembly is disposed on the rear side of the circuit breaker assembly. The frame assembly secondary contact assembly and the circuit breaker secondary contact assembly were arranged in a similar manner, i.e., with the frame assembly secondary contact assembly facing (exposed to) the front side of the frame assembly enclosed space, and the circuit breaker secondary contact assembly facing the rear side of the frame assembly enclosed space. The frame assembly secondary contact assembly and the circuit breaker secondary contact assembly were, however, movable along with the circuit breaker assembly.
In this configuration, and when the circuit breaker assembly was disposed substantially within the frame assembly enclosed space, the circuit breaker assembly primary contact assembly is in electrical communication with the frame assembly primary contact assembly. When the circuit breaker assembly was removed from the frame assembly enclosed space, the circuit breaker assembly primary contact assembly separated from, and was no longer in electrical communication with, the frame assembly primary contact assembly. Because the frame assembly secondary contact assembly and the circuit breaker secondary contact assembly moved along with the circuit breaker assembly, the secondary contact assemblies remained in electronic communication while the circuit breaker assembly moved. When the circuit breaker assembly was substantially removed from the frame assembly enclosed space, the frame assembly secondary contact assembly and the circuit breaker secondary contact assembly also separated. Thus, the circuit breaker assembly was to have three configurations: (1) a “connect” configuration, wherein the circuit breaker assembly primary contact assembly is coupled to, and in electrical communication with, the frame assembly primary contact assembly and the circuit breaker assembly secondary contact assembly is coupled to, and in electrical communication with, the frame assembly secondary contact assembly, (2) a “test” configuration, wherein the circuit breaker assembly primary contact assembly is not coupled to, and is not in electrical communication with, the frame assembly secondary contacts and the circuit breaker assembly secondary contacts are coupled to, and in electrical communication with, the frame assembly secondary contact assembly, and, (3) a “disconnect” configuration, wherein the circuit breaker assembly primary contact assembly is not coupled to, and is not in electrical communication with, the frame assembly primary contact assembly, and, the circuit breaker assembly secondary contact assembly is not coupled to, and is not in electrical communication with, the frame assembly secondary contact assembly. Further, there is an “isolation” configuration wherein the circuit breaker assembly is completely removed from the frame assembly.
The disadvantage to this configuration is that an arc may form when the circuit breaker assembly primary contact assembly is separated from the frame assembly primary contact assembly, and/or when the circuit breaker assembly primary contact assembly is near to the frame assembly primary contact assembly. Because the known circuit breaker assemblies move through the configurations in this order connect to test, test to disconnect, during removal (and in the opposite order during installation), the circuit breaker assembly primary contact assembly and the frame assembly primary contact assembly are close enough to each other to generate an arc when in the “test” configuration.
There is, therefore, a need for a circuit breaker installation that avoids this disadvantage. There is a further need for an added assembly that overcomes this disadvantage in preexisting circuit breaker installations.